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Brodeur simply the best ever March 15: By the end of his contract, Martin Brodeur will be the owner of almost every record that pertains to goaltenders.

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Mottau, who had one goal in 80 games this season, intercepted the pass, and beat Ward with a shot from the right point with 3:57 left in the period. The defenseman was also a little lucky in getting his second career playoff in six games. Carolina forward Chad LaRose had a chance to nudge the puck away from him before he shot but he missed the opportunity.

“I’m sure he was pretty surprised that a little wrister could get through there,” Mottau said of Ward. “But when you can’t see it, it’s pretty difficult to stop.”

Parise made a great individual effort in the opening minute of the second period to push the lead to 2-0. He fought through a check along by boards by Eric Staal, took a little pass from Travis Zajac and beat Ward to the far side with a shot from a bad angle.

Elias got his goal on a nice play by Brian Gionta. The little forward took the puck away from Rod Brind’Amour in the corner after Elias was stopped on a wraparound attempt, and then found Elias for a shot from the left circle.

The crowd of 17,625 started chanting “Cam Ward! Cam Ward!” repeatedly and then switched to “Marty is better!” a couple of minutes later.

Whitney got Carolina on the board after Brodeur stopped LaRose in close. Parise whiffed on a wild swing to clear the puck and Whitney backhanded the puck into an open net at 9:22.

The Hurricanes didn’t get long to enjoy the goal. Langenbrunner took a pass from Parise 29 seconds later and blistered a shot past Ward.

“We know we have to have a better effort and fortunately, there is better hockey in this room,” Hurricanes center Matt Cullen said.

Notes: Center Bobby Holik, who was signed after last year’s playoff debacle to provide leadership, was a healthy scratch for New Jersey. ... Devils RW Brendan Shanahan was hit in the face on a shot by defenseman Colin White late in the first period. He returned in the second period. ... Carolina was 6-of-17 on the power play against New Jersey in winning three of four in the regular season. They were 0-for-2 in Game 1, not getting the extra man until the start of the third period.

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